


Ruby

by Layla_Fae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Homophobic Language, M/M, Mental Instability, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-22 17:30:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15587049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Layla_Fae/pseuds/Layla_Fae
Summary: Junmyeon, a poor boy trying to provide a living for his family, makes a deal with his wealthy boss to retrieve his son back home after he ran away to processed a career in dancing. When Junmyeon finds him in a rundown show house with harsh lighting and cheap liquor, he discovers grace and beauty and falls for it alone in the audience. His love for it soon becomes an addiction that the can’t cut off and he brings it home with him with more secrets to hide along the way.Sehun, the son of a rich family, only comes back home under the promise that he could keep doing what he loved, but the real reason he comes back is to follow the poor boy that was sent to him in the first place. He thinks nothing could be worse then the bittersweet hell he was already in, till his father announces his sister’s engagement to the poor boy which causes everything and everyone around him to begin to crumble.





	1. Part 1

Part 1

Junmyeon’s father left when he was seven years old. He said he was going out for cigarettes and to refill the gas tank. That was a Tuesday night fourteen years ago. He and the car haven’t been back since. 

That left Junmyeon’s mother in a state of panic at first, till a week went by and reality settled in. She became ill at that time and couldn’t work. Junmyeon, along with his mother and five younger siblings, had to move out and go live his grandmother after that. His grandmother lived in a different town, about thirty miles west, and was just as bedridden as his mother. That was when Junmyeon got his first job, soon followed by his second and third. 

Junmyeon was the only source of income the household had. He could only do so much because of his age, but he had to do something or else his mother and grandmother would go without their medicine and his younger siblings would go hungry. He had to do the right thing and work to provide a living for his family since he was now the man of the house, his mother told him. Her and his grandmother order him on how to do everything around the house and outside in the real world. They were limited to their bed but they still ran the house and put all the responsibility on Junmyeon’s young shoulders. He had to do everything right or they would label him as a disgrace and a coward like his father. He constantly felt like one either way.

Junmyeon always dreamed of getting out and going into the arts. He wanted to become a professional singer and perform in musical shows before thousands of people. He wanted to be a star and do what he loved most in the world. Most of all, he just wanted to happy. 

He never got to purpose his dream. He never felt good enough for the profession, due to his little to nothing training. He only had his small talent on his side and that itself wasn’t near enough. His mother and grandmother disapproved greatly of the idea as well, saying that it would only interfere with his current work and he only need to focus on that. 

Junmyeon never made a lot of money from his work since he couldn’t do it full time. When he graduated high school, he was able to go off and get a decent job and his family acted more elated about his paycheck than his actual progress at work. He grew and climbed up to gain a lower end but respectable status in his field. It was still manual labor though, nothing but shuffling box after box. It was a back aching, horrible job but it paid rent and brought food to the table. It was all he was meant to do in the world, he guessed. 

One day comes along in the summer and Junmyeon was held over at work, trying to organize the next shipment out for the next morning load, when his boss called him over. He obeys and follows the man out and into the street. They go out for drinks and the older man buys one for him. He says his thanks and means it. He couldn’t afford to get the drink himself.

The bar was dusty and empty, since the fact it was a weeknight and everyone was probably home having dinner. Junmyeon talked very little to his boss. He didn’t really know or cared for the rich man in his nice suit and shoes. He ran the growing company like an ass and worked him over his hours without pay. He didn’t even know why he was here, considering that he was never acknowledged by him before. He just wanted to go home.

His boss openly asked him then if Junmyeon could do him a favor. He knew then that he had entered into the shady part of the business.

His boss explained that he had a son around the same age as him. He took off a few years back when he turned eighteen and left nothing behind to explain where or why to his family. He went off somewhere south to fill his dream as a dancer, a dream that the older man never approved of. He wanted to escort his son into the family business and have him take over one day. The boy did the smart thing and got the hell out before they made him stay for good.

His boss told him that he wanted Junmyeon to go off south and find his boy. He wanted him to convince him to come back home where he will be welcomed with open arms and still be able to continue on with his dancing. His boss told him that Junmyeon to tell his son that his father loved him and just wanted him back home with his family.

Junmyeon understood why the boy wanted to leave so badly and almost envied him for having the courage to go off like he himself always dreamed of but never did. This boy that was able to do what he never could and a part of himself didn’t want to bring him back. He almost said no to the offer, knowing how the boy felt and not wanting to ruin that for him, despite the fact he didn’t even know him. He agreed to the deal either way after the boss promised to pay him the week he was gone from work and more if he fills out his end of the deal. He left on a train early that next morning. He only left a note for his grandmother to find that next morning along with the cash. 

He arrived at his destination in the late evening that next day. It was a ten-hour long ride down south and he felt stiff and tired. He recalled everything the boss had told him and pulled out the thing the man gave him to help him in his search. It was simply a picture and a name: a blonde boy named Sehun who looked innocent and handsome.

His boss had previously sent a private detective to hunt down his son whereabouts and found him here about a year ago. If the boy was still there was a mystery. He could have moved somewhere else once he realized that he was being hunted down. Junmyeon would, more desperate than before to be left alone by his family.

Junmyeon only walked around town once he got there, not checking in to his hotel and carrying his luggage with him. He wore his best clothes for his travel which was only a clean-ish button up and baggy pants that he couldn’t fit. He kept looking around for the boy everywhere he went, trying to ignore the looks he got from the other people around him. He was in the fancy part of town at that time, with people arriving inexpensive cars to shop and eat fancy dinners. They snarled down at him with raised noses that reminded him of home. He just kept walking.

He soon found himself in the poorer part of town as he kept walking. It was very late and the nightlife was coming out to play. There were people all around him, dancing in the street and spilling beer on each other. Women were dressed in short skirts and men were smoking while leaning against the wall. Junmyeon didn’t it mind the behavior as much. It was what he was used to.

He kept his eyes open and his sight all around him. He was looking for a tall man with blonde hair, which couldn’t be that hard to find. He had a feeling that Sehun would most likely be in this section of town for some reason. It seemed more entertaining in his honest opinion and more like the kind of place that his father would disapprove of. Junmyeon would be here, if in his position. 

Junmyeon was encountered by two scandalously dressed women who caught him while he was looking around. They pulled him back and put an arm around his lower back and rested the other hand on his chest. They called him ‘big boy’ and asked him where he was doing here. He felt himself clam up and his mouth go dry. He didn’t want this, but he didn’t know how to politely escape the tight space they had him in.

He began looking around for his exit when he looked across the cul-de-sac and saw a long line of people entering in one of the bigger building from the side door. Most of them were tall, dazzled up women in sparkly attire and big headbands. One of them had short blonde hair and a more structured and build frame in the chest and shoulders and stood near the end of the line.

Junmyeon mumbled his excuse to the women around him and dashed forward to the building. He had to move around people and nearly got hit by a car in the process. He got honked at but ran onward anyway. He caught sight of the blonde boy before he walked inside, his head turned slightly. He could have possibly seen Junmyeon running towards him, but he walked inside and disappeared without hesitation.

Junmyeon stopped and breathed as the door closed in front of him at a five-foot distance. He cursed under his breath and pursed his lips. He looked up to the building he was standing beside and noticed the bright lights and ticket booth that stood out front with a small line of people. He decided from there to do what seemed to be his last option. 

He got his ticket for the show and settled himself inside and in the farther backseats. He sat there and thought about what he should do and how to approach the boy. He doubts the boy would be welcoming to him once he came forth and informed him why he was here. He decided that he wouldn’t try that hard on persuading him. He didn’t want to ruin anyone’s life here, but if he had to choose, he would save the boy than his boss, money or not. He didn’t care too much at this point. He doubts the fucker would pay him that much anyway.

The show soon started with the lights dimming and the music starting off. The piano was off key and the small band was flat but Junmyeon didn’t mind. He vaguely paid attention to the plot that mainly told the tale of a woman who had been pondered off to get married by her father to a man she never met and she ends up falling in love with him but she doesn’t want to lose her independence. The final act where the girl began to dress as a man so she could talk to her fiancé out of marrying her was the only part that gains any of Junmyeon’s attention. It only took a second to gain it all when he came onto the stage.

Instead of the female lead, it was Sehun who took the stage in simple rags and barefoot. He took Junmyeon’s breath away.

He wore a ruby gem choker that shined under the light along with his hair and skin, but the most elegant thing was the way his body moved in such a fluid and whimsical formation. He was beauty and grace in a tangible form. 

He was everything that Junmyeon wanted to be and more. He was what he craved for and longed for in every aspect of the word. He left him dazed and desperate for more.

The performance was soon over and the audience applauded for the cast. Junmyeon followed suit before dashing out and around the stage. He snuck his way to the front of the stage and found his way backstage and to the dressing rooms along with all the props and such that crowded space. He was trying to move against the swarm of people around him that pushed against his force. He was frantically looking around for the blonde boy, trying to just catch a glimpse. 

He made his way over to the side and stood on some wooden boxes to get a better look over the moving people around him. He stayed there till he saw a moving bop of blonde hair moving out from the dressing rooms and towards the side exit. He was dressed casually but still had the ruby necklace on; he could tell by the tied red ribbon from the back that bloomed out into a big bow. 

Junmyeon jumped out from the boxes and chased off the moving person. He squeezed and darted himself around all the people in between till he got to the boy. He grabbed hold of his arm and came face to face with him, almost bobbing their noses together. He stood there with his mouth open, trying to get something that sounded like a word out while the other man looked at him. He was confused and probably questioning why he had him in this position anyway. Junmyeon could only look at his pretty face and eyes and malfunction in thought.

“A-are you Oh Sehun?” He finally got out. 

The blonde boy was taller than him and looked at him with light eyes. “Why?”

Junmyeon tried to come up with another hopeful answer but fails to do so before the other boy pulls him along outside. He follows, the grip on his arm now falling down to his hand. 

They make it outside where the number of people has slimmed down and the sky was becoming darker. Junmyeon is pulled out to the side in the black ally way beside the entree. He can barely see Sehun’s face and if it wasn’t for the small beam of a nearby street light, Junmyeon would assume he was talking to the shadows around them. Sehun still held his hand and pulled him in close to his own body. There was very little space between them and Junmyeon felt heated from it.

“Why?” Sehun questioned him again. His tone was harsher than before.

“Your father sent me to find you.” Junmyeon finally confessed. 

Sehun distanced himself away from him by a few steps. He became more guarded towards him by crossing his arms and glaring at him. Junmyeon only stood there and took it. 

“I guess you’re here to stalk me as well,” Sehun suggested to him in a sarcastic and mocking tone. He was pissy, and Junmyeon couldn’t blame him.

“He wants me to convince you to come back home,” Junmyeon explained. “He says he loves you and will let you continue to dance if you want.” 

Sehun scoffed into the air around them. He sounded insulted and Junmyeon hoped he didn’t take it as himself being offensive. 

“Like I haven’t heard that lie before.” Sehun looked away from him, towards the street light, and damned it to hell and back with his eyes. They stood like that for a few minutes, silent and lost in thought.

“If it means anything to you,” Junmyeon began in a steady yet hesitant tone. “I won’t come back either.” 

He decided to be truthful with the other man before him. He didn’t want him to suffer like Junmyeon himself was his current life. He didn’t wish this on anyone, and he didn’t want the stunning boy to face his same pain.

Sehun looked at him with an odd look in his eyes that he couldn’t fully read. He was never really good at reading other people anyway.

“You seem happy here.” He simply stated. “And you were so beautiful on stage.” 

They stayed like that for a while, letting his words hang and buzz over them as the crowd of people around them kept on with their music and cheers. He only looked at Sehun and Sehun only looked at him. Junmyeon couldn’t tell what he was thinking, along with himself.

Sehun was the first to move, which caught him off guard for a moment. The blonde stepped closer up to him again and graced his fingers lightly over his thighs and up to his hips. He stuck his thumbs into the belt loops of his pants and pulled him in closer. Their bodies were touching, chest to chest and groin to groin. Junmyeon settled his hands on Sehun’s middle back, his fingers spreading out to his lower, and pulled his upper torso away some to look at the boy more clearly. He held a stone-cold expression like he didn’t have remorse for what he had just done. 

“Where are you staying tonight?” Sehun required of him, keeping his hold on his tight. His own fingers were gracing out for Junmyeon’s ass.

“At a hotel in town. I haven’t checked in yet.” Junmyeon answered him. He found himself leaning in more without realizing it while becoming dizzy of Sehun’s scent and body heat.

Sehun somewhat smirked at his answer. “How about you stay with me for the night? I live on the lake coast in a small little place. It's remote and quiet.” 

Junmyeon didn’t mention how his father was the one paying for the room and how he shouldn’t be disrespectful about it. He figured that Sehun already knew that and didn’t care. Junmyeon looked down to the boy’s neck again and caught sight of the ruby choker again. He glanced back up and nodded.

Sehun smiled fully at his answer and Junmyeon thought that he did something right for once. 

They took a taxi to get there which turned into a twenty-minute ride. Before the loaded up in the car, Sehun bought them both a beer and asked Junmyeon about his life and how his father knew him. When Junmyeon told him that he worked for him, he said he was sorry for him and hoped to get better pay somewhere else in the future. Junmyeon hoped for the same as he sipped on his beer. 

They arrived at Sehun’s small place, which turned out to be a shady apartment complex made of old brick and cracking concrete. Sehun walked him into the lobby that smelled like mold and wood, holding his hand with stiff fingers. He went up to the highest floor, hearing strange noises coming from each room they passed. While going down the hall, Sehun pulled him into his side, wrapping an arm around his waist. He returned the gestured, feeling the dancer’s pointy hip bone under the fabric of his pants. 

They entered the room, which was small but decent. It was faded lavender colored walls and old furniture. The living room, kitchen, and bedroom was in one tight space. It made his own home look somewhat higher end but it felt cozy and warm. He rather be in that room that back home.

Sehun closed the door behind them and came up behind him. He rested his hands on his waist again and put his chin on his shoulder. 

“You have a nice place here.” Junmyeon complimented. He was trying to not fall back into the strong feeling chest pressed against his back. 

“I like the view I have of the lake from the window.” Sehun gestured to the window beside his bed. Junmyeon could barely make out the blue of the water over the lightning blue of the early morning sky. He felt tired under the numb sensation in the core of his soul. The only real thing he truly felt was the rise that Sehun gave him from behind. He liked him up close to him. 

Sehun ran his hand from behind him up his chest and to his collarbone. His fingers lightly ran across his skin as peeked from his shoulder. Junmyeon watch him carefully observe his small action. He knew he wasn’t innocent.

“You’re damp. You must have gotten hot from the ride over here.” Sehun confirmed for him. “You need to shower. I’ll get you a towel.” 

Sehun separated himself from his body but let his free and unseen hand ghostly cup his ass and pitched him. Junmyeon jerked slightly from the notion and looked back at the blonde boy who was already walking away from him. Junmyeon only caught a second of him biting his lower lip and felt a steam rise upward inside his own body. 

Sehun handed him a towel and showed him to the restroom, telling him to take his time. Junmyeon tried not to feel tense under his wondering up and down eyes, along with other things.

While Junmyeon was in the shower, letting the hot water pour over his head, he realized what he was doing and that he had to stop. He wasn’t doing the right thing right now. He should be telling the boy to come home and that his family missed him before going off to the hotel room that his boss planned for him. He was wasting money and that was a luxury that no one could afford to lose.

That and he knew that if he stayed in for the night, he would give in to something wrong. A part of him didn’t want to fall under the other man across the room, because doing such a thing with your boss’s son was a horrible thing. But another part of him kept flashing the boy on stage inside his head and how enchanting he was to be seen up there. He was what Junmyeon could have been himself if he had been more like him.

But he was here now with him, away from the demands of work and his even more demanding family. It was farther than he ever thought he gets.

He eventually left the shower, turning off the water and letting the steam cloud over his vision now. He wiped his body down the best he could before wrapping the towel around his waist. He opened the door to find Sehun already in bed. He could see his bare chest and nipples from his laying position. He still had the ruby choker on and his eyes were closed, even though Junmyeon was sure he wasn’t sleeping. 

He walked over to where his luggage bag laid on the dresser. He glanced at the image of Sehun’s bare skin in the outside world light. He knew there was more bare skin exposed underneath the covers. Junmyeon only put on his boxers and crawled into the bed beside him. 

He soon felt fingers at the back of his head, raking through his wet locks. He fell into their movements and breath as the other boy crawled on top of him. He could feel his uncovered chest pressed up against him, even taking hold of the back of his knee and rest an arm on his lower back. He felt the other boy’s erection trace by his own. 

Sehun slid his arms under his shoulders and let both of his hands claw at his scalp and hair. He pulled his head back and made lightly gasped at the sensation that vibrates his whole body, from top to bottom. He never felt this good before.

Junmyeon pulled his head back up and looked to the boy hovering over him. 

“Did my dad really sent you here?” Sehun asked him in a whisper.

“Yes.” Junmyeon truthfully replied.

“Did he give you money?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you take it?” 

“I have a family to support. My mother and grandmother are too sick to work and I have younger siblings who need me.” Junmyeon never told anyone that before. He never played the poor card to anyone’s game or told anyone that unless they were close to him, which wasn’t many people. He felt like telling the boy on top of him everything though. He had a trusting look in his eyes.

“What about your father?” Sehun asked genuinely. 

“He left early on.” He left it just as that. “They put everything on me then.”

“But you’re so young.” Sehun delicately petted one of his little baby hairs. 

“So are you.” He replied back in lack of a better response. “Didn’t they put everything on you too?”

“Yeah. They wanted me to be a businessman or something.”

“I always wanted to be a singer or an actor. But I never got the chance.” Junmyeon confession to him again. “I think that’s how you and I actually differ out of all of this.”

Sehun looked at him with his head tilted and his eyes dark. “But we don’t differ much though.” 

They stay quiet for a long moment. Sehun’s eyes were looking into something different besides him, and Junmyeon wondered what it could be. His eyes glanced down to the ruby choker again.

“Are these real?” He asked him as he brought up his hand to gently touch them.

“No. I just love rubies for some reason.”

“Were you born in July?”

“No, but I wish I was for the excuse.” Sehun smiled down at him. “I just love rubies.”

“Do you always wear them?”

“Most of the time, yes. If a housewife can constantly wear pearls then I can constantly wear rubies.” Sehun stated. “They make me feel beautiful.”

“You are beautiful.” Junmyeon let it slip out and Sehun didn’t react to the statement, but he knows he heard him. “You were so beautiful tonight, dancing.” 

“I saw you in the crowd. You looked distant in your eyes.” Sehun was coming dangerously close to his lips.

“You took me to a place I wish I could be in. You made me wish I could be someone I want to be.” Junmyeon felt as if he was in church. He felt like he was being saved.

“Can I take you there again?” Sehun asked him. Junmyeon only kissed him as his response. 

They conducted the lovemaking in that creaky bed, with heavy moans overpowering their hearing and the feeling of damp sweat on their bodies. Junmyeon enjoyed the view of the boy he had under with his blonde hair a mess and his back arched while his eyes pleaded for more of him and his touch. He loved the long burning feeling of scratches down his back and the harsh biting of his lower lip. He never had an experience like that before and became desperate for more throughout the week.

He never checks into the hotel. He stays the week at Sehun’s place, sharing a bed with him each night. They sleep during the day before returning to the town where Sehun worked. Junmyeon would watch each performance he put on before they go out and drink and come back into the room for more of the passionate sex. They talk a lot during this time, which was a foreign practice to him since he never had that close of a person to him before, not even his own family. Sehun never saw to judge him on anything or even care about the things he was embarrassed about. He listened to him as well, which was something he was extremely unfamiliar with. He never told him what to do instead or how to think or act. Junmyeon almost didn’t know how to handle the freedom.

One night, later on in the week, Sehun and he stayed up and watched the sky turn into a light blue as they stayed in bed. Neither of them were tired and only looked forward into the outside world. Junmyeon sat there while Sehun threw his arm around his chest and wrapped his legs around his hips. His hair looked like silk in the light and the rubies around his neck glimmered a bit. 

“You’re the fifth man my father has sent to me.” Sehun randomly states in the comfortable silence they shared. “To bring me back home.”

“Why did he keep trying after the four before me?” Junmyeon asked him. He wants to ask if he treated all the men before him like this and if he was just another way to say ‘fuck you’ to his father.

“Guilt. I guess, at least.” Sehun titled his head towards his. “My mother got sick while I was gone. He always tried to bring me back by using her against me.”

“Did she want you back?” 

“I don’t know. She’s the one who told me to go in the first place.” Sehun stated and went on to explain how he didn’t get along with his parent most of the time, especially in his childhood. They were never around for him, spending most of their focus on their careers and high-priced daughters. He acted out a lot to gain their attention, which only caused their relationship to become more turmoil. 

“That’s horrible.” 

“She passed away a few months back.” Sehun didn’t look at him. “I didn’t go to the funeral.” 

The last day of his trip arrived. He wasn’t looking forward to it since he wanted to stay with Sehun forever. He started to ponder staying himself and if he really could. He could find a job somewhere. He could send back money to his family if push comes to shove. He didn’t need to be there for them to survive. All they do anyway was nag at him for their own amusement really. He was tired of being the beat down one all the time. He was starting to understand why his own father left.

He decided that he couldn’t do that. He had to go back and do the right thing. He always had to do the right thing over his own wants and needs. He wanted to stay, but he had to go back to his family. He wanted Sehun, but he wanted him to be where he was currently so he could be happy himself. He didn’t want Sehun to follow him back to only suffer with him. He couldn’t do that to the beautiful boy and he be damned if he asked him too. 

It was the last night for them, while Sehun pulled him down the hallway he walked down about a dozen times before. He was more tipsy than normal and more openly flirty with him considering the make-out session he had with him in the taxi, nibbling on his ear so the driver won’t see. Junmyeon only got harder than when his hand snuck down to his pants and grab him there.

Junmyeon wanted nothing more than to do what he had grown to adhibit to every night, but he stopped himself at the door, pulling himself away from Sehun on force on his hand. The blonde boy turned around to him and frowned. He looked hurt from the halt in the fun time.

“I can’t stay.” Junmyeon began. “I have a train to caught earlier tomorrow morning.”

“No.” Sehun looked at him with big sad eyes. He stepped closer to him and snaked his arms around his waist. Junmyeon let him. “Forget the train and stay here. With me.”

“I can’t. I have a family to support.” Junmyeon hated himself.

“No.” He repeated. He was sober now and his voice was so small and vulnerable that it had to be the truth. It reminded Junmyeon of a child. “Stay…”

“I can’t.” He hated himself more.

“Please. You’re important to me. I want you in my life forever.” Sehun told him and Junmyeon felt something inside of him burst.

“So… I’m not some tactic you’re using against your father?” 

“No. You’re…” Sehun trailed off. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I just want you here. I want you to stay.”

Junmyeon bit down on his lower lip and looked away. He grabbed hold onto Sehun’s shirt at the shoulder and held back his emotions. He just wanted to cry but he was taught that men didn’t cry and did the right thing in tough positions. He had to stay strong and do the right thing.

He looked back up to Sehun who was so close to his face. It was almost insufferable to choose. It wasn’t fair, because he just wanted everyone, even himself for once, to be happy. He wanted to choose Sehun over his family. He wanted to put himself first instead, for once.

He let the boy lean into him again and kiss him softly. He breathes only they parted shortly afterward and Junmyeon gravitated down to his fall into the demand and the blond boy’s chest.

“I can stay the night but I have to leave in the morning.” Junmyeon let him win. Sehun only pulled him out of the doorway and kissed him harder. That night was the best, leaving Junmyeon knowing it was love for sure. 

They had little time together before Junmyeon left the bed to dress and pack. He dressed in the same clothes that he wore the day they arrived. He only had a bag with him, but he filled it up slowly. He didn’t want to leave the apartment with the sun still out, so he stood in the middle of the room, looking down at the ticket in his hand. He wondered how expensive it must have been and how much more it took from Junmyeon then it did for the man who bought it for him.

He felt Sehun come up behind him, naked under his thin robe, and look over his shoulder. Junmyeon was distracted by his natural scent to think anything of the hand reaching up and covering his till it moved his fingers to slide out and relive the second ticket underneath the first. Sehun tried to take the second ticket, and Junmyeon tightens his grip to stop him, his intentions finally showing through his actions.

Sehun tugged again. Junmyeon didn’t let go. Sehun tugged again and the same thing happens.

“No.” Junmyeon finally stated in a weak and shaky tone. This was the last thing he wanted. “I don’t want you to go.” 

“Baby.” Sehun tried to smooth by him.

“No.” He stated in a firmer tone. He couldn’t let him do this.

“Listen, baby,” Sehun grabbed him by the chin and turned his head sideways to face him dead on. He had a serious look in his eyes yet he spoke softly to him like he wasn’t going to harm him. “I’m going, but only if you promise me that we won’t stay there forever. Somehow, in some way, we’re going to find a way to leave that town together and never come back again. I’ve done it once, and since I will have everything I need with me the next time, it’s a guaranteed leave for good for the both of us.” 

Junmyeon didn’t know what to say. He was getting exactly what he wanted but in the way, he dreaded the most. He wanted to reject the offer. He wanted to shake his head and say no, but he was frozen underneath the boy’s eyes and touch. Sehun had a way of being absolutely dominate without being aggressive or harmful. It was the kind of power that makes people fall deeply in, too easily. Junmyeon didn’t even know he was under it, making that the most dangerous part of it all.

Sehun took his silence as a yes and took the ticket from him in his weakness. “Give me about twenty minutes. I’ll pack all I need and get dress as quickly as I can.” 

Junmyeon watched him dress and pack around the room as he simply sat on the couch, hating everything about the situation he was in. He just wanted to do the right thing to make everyone happy, to finally be good enough in everyone’s eyes. Yet, here he was, near tears as he hurts and destroys the most important person to him as he drags him back into the hellhole that he himself lived in. He only wanted Sehun happy at the end of all of this, and he couldn’t even make that happen. He should have burned that damn ticket when he had the chance.

Sehun left his rent on the table and locked the door on his way out. He packed two large bags with him, throwing mainly clothes and shoes into them, along with his playbooks and past scripts. He took off his ruby choker before they walked out of the door and settled it into the pocket. Junmyeon let out some of his tears then. He felt like a failure. 

They got on the train and slept for most of the trip. It was humid in their cart and the people were louder than the iron tracks that the train rode across on. Sehun laid his head on his shoulder for most of the trip, despite their height difference. Junmyeon only lingered down at his bare neck and felt more broken inside. 

They arrived into town in the midafternoon. It was so different compared to the town they just came from, making Junmyeon feel as if he been sucked back in time. He didn’t want to be here and the hardness in his body was heavy in his bones as he follows Sehun to the street to call for a taxi.

Junmyeon wished he could hold Sehun’s hand in public. He just wanted to touch him in some shape or form, but he knew how that would be seen in public and how bad it would have been viewed. Homosexuality was a sin and those who commanded it were hellbound. It made sense to Junmyeon, considering that he and Sehun were already there. 

They got a taxi and drove out into the Oh’s Manor in the outskirts of town. Sehun sat right beside him and stroke his hand in air-light strokes underneath the shadows of their crossed legs. Junmyeon finally looked over at him and smiled the best he could. Sehun did too, and they both shared the same thought. They only had to suffer for a little while to have forever together, but it was almost painful to not hold each other in the open space of the city. They won’t be accepted here, or anywhere for that matter. They could make it work though, in privacy. 

They arrived soon enough, pulling up to one of the biggest houses that Junmyeon has ever seen. There was a man outside waiting to take their bags while another came and escorted them inside. Junmyeon didn’t know how to act and only followed behind Sehun. He shuffled on awkwardly and tried to remember to breath. 

They entered into the main front room and farther into the dining hall. They arrived to see a group of five sitting at the long table, feasting in on their meals as they came in. They stopped chewing once their eyes landed on them, especially the man at the end in his brand name suit. For a father seeing his missing son after so long, he didn’t look emotional at him. He looked rather annoyed really.

“Looks like it was worth it after all.” The man spoke out in a dark tone. “It’s good to see you’ve finally come to your senses, son.”

Sehun scoffed into the air beside him. Junmyeon could see the rage and resentment in his eyes and felt the guilt in his stomach become heavier. He did this. 

“Come join us Sehun and we will talk.” His father ignored his sign of distaste.

“What about Junmyeon?” Sehun challenged him. “Shouldn’t he join us as a sign of thanks?”

The five other people stopped their eating again to think about the completely odd question. Junmyeon felt like he was more unwanted, with the looks and stares he was getting from the four females sitting with his boss. They were all blonde hair and dark eyed like Sehun, but none of them were nearly as attractive as him.

“Fine.” The man decided and waved over to the nearby waiter. “Prepare two more plates.” 

Junmyeon sat and ate with the family and spent the rest of the day with them. Sehun spoke for him most of the time since his father asked questions in a certain way that Sehun knew how to answer in the way he likes. Junmyeon was mostly silent and clueless in all of the talks, but he could tell that Sehun talked about him in a somewhat positive light that rubbed off his father. He didn’t answer one important question though, about what Junmyeon said or did to make him come back home. He simply left it off as his own decision and stated that Junmyeon was just there in time for it. That was somewhat of the truth after all.

Junmyeon left that night and rode back home in a car with a drive from the Ohs. They thanked him for his company and send him off. Sehun was the last to say goodbye to him, holding his hand a second longer than anyone else, and he winked at him with loving eyes before letting out. Junmyeon wanted to stay.

When he came back home, his family just finished dinner and welcomed him back kindly. His siblings hugged his legs while his mother and grandmother asked him a million questions. He answered them all before handing them the money that his boss gave him for completing his task. He didn’t tell them that he already took half of the amount and stash it away in a secret place. He labeled that as the beginning about of his and Sehun get away.

They didn’t know how much they needed really or how long it would take to get it, but he was ready to get and work for it if he had too. He attended to keep his promise to Sehun about getting out of here, and the soon he can do that, the better. It was really all that mattered to him now; he just needed to make it till then.

Junmyeon becomes a close family friend to the Oh’s as time passed. He is invited to more dinners there and his boss has grown to respect him for some reason. He doesn’t know why but he assumes it from Sehun talking him up at home, almost demanding his father to acknowledge him and to do something kind to him in payback. A part of Junmyeon doesn’t want that, never wanting to be the one who constantly hangs his good deeds for others over their heads, but he goes along with it either way and uses it to his advance.

It’s started off at Christmas when he got a bigger bonus at his job than the other workers around him. He doesn’t voice his amount of income to them because of this and doesn’t mention it to his family. He takes the surplus and hides it away in his secret place. He repeats the same action when he gets a promotion, moving from the hard labor to a simple desk job. It was fewer hours and more pay, but he doesn’t tell anyone in his family about it. He keeps the left-over money to himself and spends the extra free hours with his blonde beauty.

Sehun and he see each other in secret. They never go out in public, but instead sneak around late at night to a motel or spend a few hours together when Junmyeon is called over to Oh Manor by Sehun. It was always labeled and seen as a friendly visit after work, but the door to the room was always closed on the maid’s way out and then locked soon afterward.

They see each other most days since Sehun couldn’t find a dancing job anywhere in town, due to the lacking practice in the arts here. He mostly just practices in his studio, which is normally how Junmyeon finds him. He was always there, in his tight clothing, covered in sweat. He liked standing there whenever he came upon him there, watching in from the back and front views. Sehun was still gorgeous when he bent and turned in every way and Junmyeon would watch him dance forever if he could.

“I’m so bored here all day.” Sehun wined to him one day on a sunny afternoon on the weekend. “I just want to go out and do something but there’s nothing enjoyable here.”

“Haven’t you found a job yet?” Junmyeon asked him.

“None that are worth my time.” 

“Are you still practicing every day?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You won’t be rusty once we get out of here.”

Sehun looked up to him from his laying position on the wooden floor. He smiled widely, with a dreamy look in his eyes. He repeated the last of Junmyeon’s words before turning back to the door, checking to see if it was still locked before scooting over to him, invading his personal space. He laid his head on his shoulder and placed a hand on Junmyeon’s chest, messing with the buttons on his shirt. His nose was bummed up against his and they both smiled at the contact. Sehun kissed him gently and Junmyeon felt light again. 

“I can’t wait to be back in our little apartment on the lake,” Sehun spoke in a low tone. “Just us… alone and free…”

Junmyeon kissed him again. “I don’t know if we can go back there at first. We might need to hide out somewhere else before we return.”

“Why?”

“So, they don’t find us.” 

“Who cares if they find us.” Sehun laced their fingers together. “As long as we stay there, they can’t make us leave.”

“You obviously haven’t met my mother.” Junmyeon laughed at him, knowing he would understand what he meant. He told Sehun how well his mother was at playing the guilt game and how a word from her can cut him down to the core. 

“I would love to meet her.” Sehun lit up at the suggestion. 

“Really?”

The meeting didn’t go over well. Junmyeon had brought Sehun for dinner one night, telling his family in advance that he was bringing his boss’s son over. It all started out well. The conversations were good and manners were in check. It all came to a crashing halt at the end, right before Sehun was about to walk out the door and leave.

One of Junmyeon’s younger siblings dropped a plate or a glass and it shattered. It was one of the few nice dishes they had, and his mother blew up about it. She blamed Junmyeon for being careless and leaving his siblings to tidy up the table when they weren’t old enough to handle that nice of china. Junmyeon was about to apologize for it and promise to buy another one when Sehun snapped.

“Goddamnit woman! Can you stop bitching at him for one second?!”

The outburst causes the room to be silent for once. It was the first time Junmyeon ever saw his mother at a loss for words. Her mouth hung open in insulted disbelief. It stayed that way till Junmyeon walked Sehun out of the house and down to the road. 

Sehun turned to him, ready for a fight. “I don’t care if she’s your mother. She can’t talk to you like that. All she’s done tonight is treat you like a child and talk down to you. You’ve done everything she asks and more, and she hasn’t said thank you once!”

“Sehun, please. She’s my mother.” 

“I don’t care. She hasn’t treated you with one once of respect this whole time I’ve been here!” Sehun told him. “She has talked more about your father then I’ve heard you ever talked about him in the whole time span I’ve known you and it’s not in a very good light. A light you don’t deserve to be categorized in.”

Junmyeon didn’t know how to respond to that. He felt the opposite way of what Sehun told him. 

“It all makes sense now…” Sehun signed.

“What does?” Junmyeon asked him.

“Why you hate yourself so much. Why you don’t think you’re not good enough in anything.” 

“Because I’m not.” 

“Yes, you are Junmyeon!” Sehun exaggerated to him. “Just because you don’t do something that she asks or, god forbid, make a mistake somewhere in your life does not make you a bad person. One action does not define who you are.”

Junmyeon simply ducked down to his feet at that. He was cold and forgot his jacket. He suddenly felt something heavy around his shoulders then. He looked up to find himself face to face with Sehun. The blond boy buttons his winter coat over him. 

Sehun looked into his eyes and Junmyeon remember how soft those irises were again when they were meant to be serious. “I think you’re a wonderful, beautiful, perfect person Junmyeon.”

“There’s no such thing as a perfect person.”

“Then you’re damn near it.” Sehun fired back. “I think you’re a good man. I think you’re a great man. Who would make a great father.”

Junmyeon felt touched by the statement. The idea of children with Sehun, as if they were a family, made his heart flutter and his eyes water. It was a beautiful image in his head.

“Really?”

“Yes,” Sehun spoke to him definitely. “And I kiss you right now if you’re grandmother wasn’t spying on us.”

Junmyeon turned back around to the house in time to see a swift movement of the curtains. He cursed his nanny inside his head. He turned back to Sehun and signed out his apology.

“Either way, I think you’re a good man who doesn’t deserve to be treated that way. You’re selfless and kind. You’re successful at your job.”

“They don’t know about that.” Junmyeon cut him off.

“What do you mean?”

“They still think I’m in shipment,” Junmyeon confessed. “I give them the same amount of money I use to make and put the rest away for us.”

“What about the extra time you have now?”  
“I spend it with you.” 

Sehun looked at him with a rapidly changing expression on his face. He couldn’t read any of the emotions. He was never good at that honestly.

“How much do you have saved?” 

Junmyeon told him the amount. 

“That’s a lot.” Junmyeon could tell he was honestly surprised. 

“Did you not expect that much?” Junmyeon asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you talk me up to your father so I could get the job and save up?”

“What?” Sehun was shocked at his explanation. “No, I didn’t do that. You got the job yourself, babe. You earned it.”

“I…did?”

“Yes. You deserve it through your hard work and dedication, Junmyeon.”

Apart of Junmyeon really wanted to give into Sehun’s words, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to believe it because he knew it wasn’t true. 

“I want to double the amount so I can leave half of it with them and take the other half for us.” He changed to subject. “What about you?”

Sehun told him.

“That’s pretty good.”

“I’ve also been paying rent out there for the apartment,” Sehun confessed. “I wish we were there now. The lake usually freezes over at this time, and the ice is thick enough to where people go out and stake on it.”

Junmyeon smiled at the idea. “One day, we’ll be staking out there. Possibly with little ones…”

Sehun smiled wider at the suggestion. “Yes.” He agreed. “I hope they look like you somehow. I want them to have your cheeks and your eyes.” 

Junmyeon felt himself blush at the statement. He looked down, watching one of Sehun’s loafers inch closer to him, crushing the thin ice under his feet. He looked back up to a dreamy looking Sehun.

He then glanced down to his neck. Ever since they left, he can’t look at him the same with the choker necklace on. It seemed like a part of him was missing in a way. He recalled the first time he and Sehun met in a motel. Sehun was not as into the moment as he usually way till Junmyeon realized what was missing. He took it out of his pants pocket and put it on him before going on to the lovemaking. He only wore the choker when they were completely alone and felt safe enough.

Sehun needed it, even now. Junmyeon could tell by the way he always rubbed his neck or wore high collar shirts to hide the skin underneath. He just wanted to feel the void of the lost item so he could pretend it was there, so he could live his life.

“One day I’m going to buy you rubies,” Junmyeon stated, still staring at Sehun’s neck. He looked up to the boy that was caught off guard by his vow. “I’m going to get you rubies. Rather just one or a dozen, I’m going to get it, so you can have it. Because you deserve it.”

Sehun didn’t respond to him. He only looked at him with a deep look in his eyes. He slipped his hands down from Junmyeon’s shoulders to his hands that were hidden underneath the sleeves of the coat. It was a small gesture but a bold move to make in public.

“I would kiss you right now if I could,” Sehun confessed to him. Behind them, a fancy car drove up and parked beside them and the sidewalk. It was Sehun’s ride and it was time for him to go. 

“I love you.” 

“Don’t say that to me right now or I’ll lose control.”

“I love you,” Junmyeon repeated himself.

“There are too many people here.” 

“I love you.” 

Sehun breathed as he glanced behind him and over to the busy driver. He quickly dove into his lips then and kissed him. It was short-lived, but it made Junmyeon feel alive and warm again.

Sehun slowly parted from him then, letting go of his loose hands one at a time. “I have to go.” 

“I love you,” Junmyeon repeated again.

“I love you too,” Sehun said it back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t you want your coat back?”

“No. I want you to keep it and wear it. Stay warm.” 

“Alright.” Junmyeon watched him get into the car and waved him goodbye when he saw him looking at him from the back window. He mouthed ‘I love you’ again for good measure and Sehun blew him a kiss. Junmyeon only thought of that when he entered back inside the house to his raging mother and suspicious grandmother.

His mother disapproved of the boy for obvious reasons and made it clear through passive aggressive remarks that she didn’t want Junmyeon to see him again. She said the more he gets involved with him, the worse he will come out. Junmyeon only wondered how she would react if she knew about everything he actually had done with him. He wondered how she would react once they left for good.

Junmyeon sees Sehun more often then. He’s invited over for dinner more at the Oh’s from his boss and usually sits across from Sehun instead of beside him like he always done beforehand. Instead, he sits next to his older sister, the one closest to his age, who is a fragile, petite thing that barely speaks. She’s the smallest out of the group and the most awkward. She has a bad habit of staring at people with eyes that are too big for her face. Sehun had mentioned to him that the girl suffered from many mental illnesses that she had been treated for since she was a child but the medicine had only worsened her sickness for some reason. She was an unstable case that the whole family was on alert about constantly. 

Junmyeon asked about it one time, in total innocence, and Sehun told him that if she were to be a dog, she be the small one that shakes all the time in the corner. 

It wasn’t till later on in time, when he became a causal guest in the home when Junmyeon realized what was going on around him. It was when Junmyeon was sent straight away to the upper floor library to see his boss. He was released from work early to meet his boss there, strictly from his orders. He arrived and found her there, reading. He was left waiting for his boss in a library, looking around at books for hours while the girl simply stared at him over her own. He expressed this experience later on to Sehun who only looked nervous and outraged at the news. He didn’t tell him about the suspicion he had because he knew that Sehun already could tell what was happening.

It was all confirmed one day, during work, when he was called into the office during his lunch break. His boss welcomed him graciously with a meal for two and causal talk that should have made him feel at ease, but his nervous only intensified by tenfold. 

He thought he was going to get fired. Instead, he was offered a shit ton of money and a higher position in his company to marry his youngest daughter. The man explained that he would have to still propose to her and stay married to her for the rest of his life. He had to be a good husband and father to their children because he didn’t tolerate mishandling of his daughter’s care. He told him that he was to never tell the girl either. That he had to act like he did truly love her, from afar, after all this time, and wanted her to be with him. 

Junmyeon only thought of the time Sehun told him about how his father was so careless about other people and their lives and feelings. The man always saw it as a problem he could easily fix up with money. He had no real regards to what other people wanted from him, like his love, his care, or even the slightest amount of attention. That’s what Sehun always wanted until he actually got it and didn’t care for it anymore. He ran away from home shortly after he discovered that.

“No.” Junmyeon finally answered him.

“No?”

“No. I’m sorry, sir.” Junmyeon apologized. “I won’t marry her.” 

“And why not?”

“I don’t want to. Maybe you should let her marry someone she loves instead.”

“She’s too old for that now. She needs to get married and have children quickly before it’s too late.”

“Then tell her to start looking.”

“She can’t. She doesn’t socialize well. No rich man’s son would want to deal with that.”

“So, you assume a poor boy like me will take it?” Junmyeon challenged him. “Because I’m desperate?”

“Listen son,” His boss’s tone turned deep and mean. “I like you. You’re patient and kind enough to deal with a lot more bullshit than anyone else I know. You can fix people. Hell, you brought my problematic son back home by some grace of God.” 

Junmyeon never wanted to scream more in his life. He hated that. He hated that Sehun was just labeled ‘problematic’ by this asshole who made him that way. He figured that Sehun’s treatment as a child was similar to his sister’s, because why else would both of them be that ‘problematic’. He found the man sickening.

“I will give you an offer you can’t refuse son.” 

“I’m sorry but I won’t marry her for any price. Find someone else.”

“Son, this is a very important offer that most people would take.”

“Then go to them and offer it. I’m not taking it.”

His boss signed annoyingly and sat back in his chair. Junmyeon didn’t care. He was completely over this. 

“Do you ever attend to get married, boy? Are you planning on being a low life bachelor all your life?” His boss asked the insulting question in an innocent tone.

“I plan to never marry, sir. It’s no offense to your daughter of any kind.” Junmyeon explained himself.

“Do you plan on living with your mother for the rest of your life then?”

“I have to support her, sir. I am her eldest son. She is sick and she is my responsibility. I am not going to run out on my sick mom like you ran out on your sick wife.”

That stroke a nerve in the man. His eyes glowed in an angry hue when he let it slip out of his mouth. Junmyeon didn’t care. He didn’t even care if he got fired now. He was offended and beyond irked by the man before him. He didn’t have the right to talk about Sehun, his own son, like that. Junmyeon didn’t want to stand for it and didn’t want to be in the presence of it anymore.

“I suppose my son told you all about that.” 

“Yes, he did.” He recalled the time, during their week at the lake, when Sehun told him about how his father had any affairs with his mother while they were married. His actions of disloyalty only accelerated once she became ill, which he learned from his sisters when he came back home. He told Junmyeon about it, saying how his father hasn’t changed at all.

“You’re a better man than me, Junmyeon. That’s why I want you to marry my daughter. Girls usually marry men that are similar to their father in some aspects. I don’t want my little girl to end up with someone like me, especially when she’s already very ill.”

“I respect that concern, sir. I understand and hope for the best for your daughter. But I can’t marry her.” 

“Are you currently with someone else? Is that the problem?”

“No.” He lied. He thought of Sehun under him with the red choker on.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want another nagging woman in my life. I don’t want anyone.” He lied again. He wanted Sehun more than anything.

His boss sat there and stared at him with intense eyes that looked a thousand years old. He was tired, and the complications that Junmyeon was giving him was only making him even more exhausted. He didn’t care. He hated this rich man and his intentions. He hated how he treated people. He hated how he was able to have all this money and yet didn’t care about anyone. He hated how he treated his son more like an account payable then an actual human being. 

“I will keep my offer open till the first. After that, you can clear off your desk and take your last two weeks of pay.” His boss informed him.

“Alright then.” Junmyeon stood from his seat and walked out of the office. He returned to his desk, already starting to think of a way to pack everything up once he left. 

Later that night he arrived at a familiar motel outside of the city limits. He didn’t go up to ask for a key. He already knew the room; it was the same one they always had. He knocked on the door. Sehun called him in, like always.

He came in and dropped his things on the table by the door. He was tired but happy to be with Sehun now. He laid out on the bed, fully clothed, turning the pages in his magazine carelessly. That was different, bearing in mind that he was normally never dressed when he came in.

“We need to talk,” Junmyeon announced.

“We do.” Sehun agreed with him and sat up on the bed. “My father told me about the meeting you had with him today.” 

“I plan on quitting tomorrow. I thought I could make it till the end of the week but I can’t.” 

“Actually…” Sehun looked at him. “I think you need to take his offer…”

Junmyeon nearly fell to the ground. His heart stopped and all the organs inside his body felt as if they exploded inside of him. He felt himself begin to fall apart.

“What are you saying?” His voice was shaky and he felt like the room was spinning.

Sehun stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders, then face. Junmyeon didn’t even realize he was falling. He gasped a tight grip onto Sehun’s shirt for stability. He was losing everything now.

“Listen to me!” Sehun screamed out to him to make him focus. “It’s not what you think! It’s still you and me! We’re still going to get the fuck out of here when we can!”

“Then why are you marrying me off to a woman? To your damn sister?” Junmyeon wasn’t sure if he was angry, hurt, crazy or all three.

“Because we can use her as a cover-up,” Sehun stated. “People are starting to get suspicious about us. My father came home and intensity asked what our relationship was like.”

“Then let’s get in the car and go. Let’s leave.”

“That would only confirm his suspicion, baby.”“So? Who cares? We will be gone!”

“Yes, but your family will be here to take the blame!” Sehun shook him to make him understand. “Once the money runs out and your siblings have to begin working, no one will hire them knowing that you’re their brother. My father will make both of us representation known. They’ll be left to starve and I know you won’t let that happen to them or live with yourself if you do.”

“But wouldn’t that also make your dad look bad?”

“Don’t you dare think for a second that my father won’t turn this damn story around and make himself look like the victim here.” Sehun got close in his face and nearly growled at him. He had never seen him like this before. “Think about your mother. She’s been known as the women who raise a fag that caused his kid to be a fag. He will blame her and everyone will turn on your family. I know you don’t want that. I don’t care for them but you do. Don’t end them like this.”

They were silent after that. Junmyeon thought about everything Sehun had said while trying to regain air in his lungs. He felt his body still itself before flinging back into a stinging sensation once he realized that the blonde boy was right. His family would be destroyed again, left to defend for themselves at a weak point that never ended. He was the only one to support them at the last blow. Who would pick up his effort once he was gone? Who actually could with the damage that he would leave?

Junmyeon let go of Sehun’s shirt and rested his head on his shoulder. Sehun held him in a comforting way, petting his hair and swaying him side to side as he quietly cried into the fabric. He couldn’t believe it all came to this. He was so close too. His secret stash of money was so only a few hundred away from his goal amount. He even started going by the train station and looking at places they could go before they went back to the lake. He was planning to be there again in time for the winter, so they could stake. 

“The whole world is against us.” Junmyeon finally spoke. His voice was breathy and low.

“But it’s still us,” Sehun whispered in his ear. Junmyeon raised his head to look at him. He seemed so sure and confident about this. Junmyeon didn’t know if he really felt that or if he was just faking it for his sake.

“What do we do?” Junmyeon asked.

“Listen. Here’s how it’s going to play out: You marry her, keep her stupid happy and such while you work. Save up all the money you can till the time is right. Then you leave the cash to your family and go. Don’t worry about her, she has my father to fall back on. He will do everything he can to help her and to fix her that you will become a distant thought in his head.”

“But he will come looking for me. Or send someone to find me.” Junmyeon reasoned in.

“Yes.” Sehun began to smirk. “That person will be me.” 

“How come?” 

“He will probably send a few people before me to track you down, but they will come to me to gather ideas about your whereabouts. I will lead them in the opposite direction and when they fail in their mission and Dad gets frustrated, he will send me personally. I will send back that I can’t find you anywhere when I actually see you again, and then we both cut off communication back to them then. We disappear and are gone forever.”

Junmyeon thinks over what Sehun explains to him. He sees the biggest flaw is the chance of them not getting caught, especially him, once he is off the radar and waiting for Sehun to come to find him. He felt queasy and unsettled about it all. It was all wrong, but it was the only way to be with Sehun like he wanted.

“Do you really think we can pull it off?” Junmyeon asked him, looking desperately for support.

“I think we can if we play our cards right,” Sehun stated. “Timing will be key. If we can get out at a bad time, they all will be too distracted to think straight. My father will not call off his work for anything. Besides, he can always buy her another husband. And next time, it won’t be my man.”

Junmyeon could see the hurt and anger in Sehun’s eyes then. He thought about how much worse it must be for Sehun since he was the one who had to watch it all happen and be powerless to stop it. He couldn’t even hate the girl for taking him. It was his own sister for God’s sake. She was just as much as a victim in all of this as they were.

“Will we still be able to meet like this?” Junmyeon asked him. “Can I still see you?”

“Of course, you can.” Sehun tucked away one of his combed over hairs. “I will make sure we see each other. You will be my brother in law. We can go out for a drink on the weekend and fuck in the bathroom stalls real quick before you go back home.” 

Junmyeon let out a weak laugh and smile at that. He was trying to see the light in all of this. It a dim light, far off and weak.

“We’ll be out of here soon enough, baby.” Sehun lightly kissed his head. “We’re going to make it. You and me.”

“Will we still be able to live at the lake after all of this?”

“Maybe. It will defiantly take time for it all to cool over and we have to make sure they stop looking for us before then, but we can. We will.”

Junmyeon made himself believe in Sehun’s words. His plan sounded convincing. They could actually pull it off if they did everything right, as long as nothing else pops up in the way. There was no plan B for them though if it falls out. If something goes wrong, they were fucked beyond repair. 

“I’ll meet with your dad tomorrow and tell him I’ve reconsidered the offer.” Junmyeon thought out loud. 

“He’ll make you propose to her that night. Most likely in front of him. The wedding will most likely be small and in church. The honeymoon will be short.”

“Yes, it will be.” Junmyeon nodded in agreement. “I don’t want to alone with her for too long.” 

“You will be. You’ll have to act like you’re in love.” 

Junmyeon looked up to Sehun, staring at his naked neck again, before moving up to his windblown locks. The ends curled around his ears in a wave-like formation. 

“Do you think she will be open to a haircut?” Junmyeon asked him.

Sehun laughed at that. A real laugh that made Junmyeon snicker as well. Sehun tighten his hold on his and looked down at him with a true smile again, before bending his head down to kiss him

“I love you.” He kissed him again. “So, so much baby.”

“I love you too,” Junmyeon replied after the third kiss. “I want to be with you forever.”

“Forever.” Sehun agreed before kissing him again. He parted with him and dragged him over to the bed.

Junmyeon stays the night in the motel room, not caring about how it worry he would cause onto his family. He leaves that next morning, kissing his sleeping beauty goodbye, before heading off. He comes home for a quick change before heading straight back to work. He doesn’t explain himself to his mother when she asks him where he had been. He only tells her he would be back late with the news.

He goes to work and dreads each minute that goes by. It was about noon when he was called into his Boss’s office for a quick second. He walked in like he did the day before. The man waits for him with guarded eyes and an intimating expression. Junmyeon tells him what he wants to here and the older man grins from ear to ear. Junmyeon feels like crying.

“I’m happy you’ve reevaluated Junmyeon. I am more than happy to welcome you into our family.” The man spoke to him in a fake tone of joy before pulling out his checkbook and signing something in it. He tore it out and handed it to Junmyeon. It was a check with his signature and a blank amount box.

Junmyeon did the math inside his head. He added it all up and then triple it for good measure. He wrote in his total before handing it back to the man. He looked at the amount like it was chump change and gave it back to him with a second thought.

“You will come over tonight for dinner and ask for a moment with me privately. Then you will have a moment with my daughter and you will propose to her then.” He opened his desk side drawer and took out a little black box. “And you will do it with this ring. This was my grandmother’s ring, my mother’s, and even my wife’s. We agreed to save it just for her.”

He slid the box across the desk over to Junmyeon. He picked it up and opened it. He saw his reflection in the large red stone in the middle, surrounded by smaller diamonds on a thin silver band. The ruby was as big as his thumb and he nearly got sick on the floor from the sight of it.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sehun, the son of a rich family, only comes back home under the promise that he could keep doing what he loved, but the real reason he comes back is to follow the poor boy that was sent to him in the first place. He thinks nothing could be worse then the bittersweet hell he was already in, till his father announces his sister’s engagement to the poor boy which causes everything and everyone around him to begin to crumble.

The honeymoon was to a be a six-day vacation on the East Coast in a small little cabin that was about fifty miles away. Sehun’s father had heard about it from a friend who recommended it since it was close to home. It was understandable why he choose that for the young couple and even paid for it. What wasn’t understandable was the fact that Sehun had to go with them.

His father’s reasoning was that the couple was still young and Junmyeon had yet to see his sister in her weakest moments when the panic attacks and mental breakdowns were outrageous. He was sending Sehun there to teach the boy how to handle her in that state since he will need to know how to do so in their marriage. Sehun made the nasty remark that maybe he should learn, or just know about it before they ever got engaged. His father only glared back at his response to him. He was used to that; he has been receiving those a lot more in the past six months.

The wedding planning was one of the worse things that Sehun has ever been through. It was an early date at a local church, but things needed to be done quickly and everyone had to do something in preparation for it. It was like everyone in his family was a chief and him and Junmyeon were the only Indians in the whole tribe to do anything. Funny how they were the ones who wanted any of this the very least.

The hardest part of it all was his sister that was the bride, who was racked with anxiety throughout the whole process. She barely made any of the decisions, but it all of the pressure and expectations that came with it set her off her edge. It was sometimes annoying to deal with it since all she did was cry and worry. 

It was the week of the wedding, one of the few nights before, when Sehun and his sisters found her in the bathroom of her private bedroom. She was on the floor sobbing, after having a moment. They came once they heard the screaming and found the room with a practically shattered mirror and all her perfumes and makeup off the counter and on the floor. She was sobbing, unable to speak properly. His sisters went off to get some help from the butler, which left only him and her alone. She grabbed his hand to gain his attention and told him about her secret fear that Junmyeon didn’t really love her. That he was simply with her for her money or to look good to their father. She told him that she was afraid that he was seeing someone else behind her back, another woman that he truly loved. She thought this because of the way he became so distance towards her and how he didn’t really tell to her about anyone he was with that he always left her for whenever they had dinner or whenever she subjected more time together.

Sehun only looked her in the eyes and told her everything she wanted to hear. That it was love and how Junmyeon would never do that to her. That Junmyeon was just an awkward and shy boy that didn’t know how to express his emotions well. He lied straight to her face and made her believe more of the illusion that was put in front of her. His father had it all painted like Junmyeon fell in love with her from afar and that they were to live happily ever after. They were all supposed to follow along with that and make her happy. Sehun himself was a true actor, but sometimes the seen got old and overly fake.

He told Junmyeon about the conversation at the rehearsal dinner the day before the date. He told him about his lie and watch as the boy remain unmoved by the information. He expected that, to be honest. Junmyeon was always able to keep his face even when he needed to. Neither of them spoke about backing off their time together. They both knew that wasn’t going to happen.

What Junmyeon didn’t know was that Sehun knew about his father’s plan to marry his sister off to him early on. His father brought it up over dinner one day when it was just them and it was silent. Sehun didn’t like to have conversations with him for too long, so he was always the one to offer up the topic. When he told him about his plan, Sehun struggled to hold back his instant rejection, saying that it was wrong to do that to his own daughter. He threw out the excuse that his father should let her marry for love and let her find her own romance. She needed to have something for herself in her life, but his father wouldn’t hear of it. He asked for Sehun’s opinion and then dismissed it as wrong, which wasn’t new to him.

That was why it was so hard for Sehun to hate his sister for all of this, even on the day of the wedding, when he dressed in his groomsmen tux and forced a big smile in all of the pictures. She was just like him, having to live under someone else’s orders and demands instead of living her own life in the way she wanted. Sehun left the first time for that reason and would be leaving the second time for the exact same reason.

The ceremony was in a small church that held all their guests. It was short, with no personal vows exchanged. His sister was smiling the whole time, fallen completely under the dream that his father designed before her. Junmyeon only stood there, no emotions, like he was soulless. Sehun felt the same towards both of them.

It was easy to fall in love with Junmyeon, to the point that noticing the action was almost impossible. Sehun didn’t notice it for himself till later when the damage was already done and he couldn’t get himself out of it or even wanted to if he was completely honest. Junmyeon was sweet and kind, with such an open mind and heart. He never let anyone know how he really felt, but he always cared about other’s and always went out of his way to take care of everyone around him without a word of complaint. He always did it with any want of respect or appreciation as well. He was one of the smartest people in the room, but also the most hated one, and that was mostly done by himself. He never saw what Sehun saw in him, which was perfection in human form. 

Even while they were loading off the dock of the boat that they took to get to the cabin, Junmyeon stood in green cardigan and grey trousers, letting the wind blowing through his dark wavy hair. He didn’t care about the place or the ocean or the trip itself. He was just happy at everyone around him was at peace, finally letting the forever tight nerves in his back relax as he breathed. It took everyone in Sehun’s power to not joy him in a hug. He always wanted Junmyeon to be happy. 

His sister beat him to it, lacing an arm to his and guiding him off the dock to the mainland. Sehun forced himself to look away to the ocean around him before walking off and following them. 

They walked out on the beach front, passing small shops and cafes full of people. Sehun kept himself from a distance from the couple in front of him. His sister was having the time of her life while Junmyeon only looked out towards the ocean as if he wanted to go out and walk into it. He would sometimes turn his head slightly back and check to see if Sehun was still there. He smiled at him when he did. He wasn’t going anywhere. He just couldn’t handle being too close while they were like that.

Although Sehun’s sister had his pity, he couldn’t help but feel envious towards her as well. He wanted to have Junmyeon for himself. Damn it, that was his man first, and the fact that she had him now because of their father pissed him off. He wanted to be the one on Junmyeon’s arm and to be the one to share a life with him. He wanted to be his husband with a ruby ring on his finger like he fucking deserved. She didn’t know anything about him, the good or the bad. She didn’t know all his lovely flaws or darling qualities and love them all despite it. She didn’t know the first thing he liked or hated or anything of any importance. But she was in love with him, just like Sehun. She had him, and Sehun hated her for it. 

They made it to the cabin in time for dinner, where they were served on silver plates and by a handful of butlers. He never understood the need for service like that for only three people for less than a week. It only took it as his father’s way of showing off. They all knew that Junmyeon would never make enough in his position for this type of living, and his father was making sure the boy knew he was under him. He loved how Junmyeon didn’t even know that that was what this all meant, or even cared if he knew. He just thanked all the staff with a sweet smile.

The conversation at dinner was bare. Neither Junmyeon or his sister were really the ones to start a conversation about anything, so it was left to Sehun to lift the awkward air around them. It was just mainly him and Junmyeon with small talk drawn out. Junmyeon still didn’t know if he could really talk to the girl beside him and Sehun couldn’t really care less if he ever learns to. It was a short-term problem, after all.

His sister started talking after dinner while looking through a book of baby names. She called out some that she liked and stated that she wanted to corporate one of her parents’ names into the mix as a middle name. Junmyeon didn’t respond, he only sat there on the other side of the couch and tensed. Sehun didn’t even need to feel uncomfortable since Junmyeon already was enough for both of them.

When she left the room to go upstairs for bed, Junmyeon looked at him with a look in his eyes. He waited until he heard the closing of the door before responding.

“I’m not having children with her,” Junmyeon stated in a firm low tone. He was dead serious.

“You don’t need to. You won’t be around to raise them.” Sehun saw the change in his face from his words. His words cut too deep for him. “Besides, I doubt you can ever be able to do so with her.” 

The marriage was meant to fail. Even without their intentions in the mix, there was no way Junmyeon and his sister would stay together. Junmyeon was not interested in women in the slightest and his sister had trouble just communicating like a normal person to a stranger. This was a collation of destined destruction that wasn’t going to end well for anyone in the mix but them. They would make their getaway and never have to think about anyone in their families again. 

“Maybe if I close my eyes and think of you…” Junmyeon whispered with a slightly arched brow.

“It feels different baby,” Sehun smirked at him. “You’ll know that well soon enough.”

Junmyeon’s face fell then, making him sink down as he signed in defeat. “I don’t want to.” 

“I know.”

“Do you think that she will want to?”

“It is the honeymoon.” Sehun tried to control his voice. “She’s probably expecting it. But she might also be worried and not want it.”

“Do you want me too?” 

Sehun wanted to yell at him. Of fucking course, he didn’t want him too. For heaven’s sake, he didn’t want any of this. Junmyeon was his, damn it. He was the one screwing him first, he was the one who loved him first. Why the hell was this happening?

“I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable doing.” He controlled himself and spoke in a soft tone. He did mean what he said, but he really just wanted Junmyeon to come to bed with him instead of her. “It would be best though. It would be considered weird if you didn’t.”

Junmyeon looked at him with his big eyes again. They were too big for his small face and they made him feel even worse about everything. 

Sehun laid in bed, wide awake, later that night. He was hyperaware of every small sound that dared to peak into his silence. He couldn’t distract himself away from what he knew was happening in the room right next to him. He could almost see it all happening in his head, even though he told himself repeatedly to not do that. He was already going to be hearing it all and didn’t need to make it worse on himself. He thought about going off on a run or just getting to fuck out of there to not think about it but he couldn’t bear to actually move from his spot on the bed. His hands gripped the sheets tightly and he chewed on his lower lip until he tasted blood.

It was late at night, to the point it was early morning when Sehun finally heard some kind of movement from the other side of the wall. He felt his body become stiff as wood as he stopped breathing. He heard the creaking of the bed and the sound of footsteps, followed by a very light and long opening of a door. It closed with a nonexistent click and then his own door open with a more alive sound of entree. 

He didn’t move till he felt something heavy fall beside him into his bed and wrap him up in long, thick arms. He didn’t stop himself from fall under him, even though he was screaming inside his head that they couldn’t do this. It was way to close and too easy for them to be caught, but Sehun didn’t want to push him away. He let him come over him like he always did and pretended that this was his honeymoon.

He woke up the next morning to the sound of an argument between the newlyweds. His sister was asking him why she woke up alone in bed without him. Junmyeon used the excuse that he went downstairs before she woke up to make her a nice hot cup of coffee. She told him that she didn’t like coffee, she liked tea.

His sister wasn’t bitchy or mad or naggy. She was generally concerned and Sehun could see her begin to become anxious again and that could leave to suspiciousness. He doubted she was thinking of the possibility of what was actually happening, but it was still not ideal for them to have that on them. The love bite under his collarbone burned. 

Junmyeon and he went down to the coast later on that day. His sister pardoned herself and told them she wanted to go shopping instead. They promised to be back in time for dinner. Sehun made sure to wear and to hang a towel over his shoulders. Junmyeon didn’t question it and only followed him out. 

“How did it all turn out from this morning?” Sehun asked him while they made their way through the wind. It was still mid-morning and not too hot.

“I was hoping you didn’t hear that.” Junmyeon signed. He looked more stressed.

“It didn’t sound too bad.” 

“It wasn’t. I just didn’t react right. That and it really hurt her.” 

“Does she know you were gone the whole night?”

“No. She woke up once I came back into the room.”

Sehun looked out to the slow waves in front of them. “It could have been worse. That and it will make it easier for her to hate you once you leave.”

“I guess that’s a positive way to look at it.” Junmyeon touched his shoulder with his own. He gave him a soft smile and Sehun found that to be more calming than anything else around them.

They stayed like that for a moment. The ocean’s soft sounds and the warm air inviting them into the breath. 

“I don’t want you to be around when we fight,” Junmyeon told him. “It will put you in a difficult spot and I don’t want you to go through any more than you have too.”

“What do you want me to do then?”

“Let me handle it. I can make her calm enough to dish it out in private. But if she throws a fit or something I want you to leave the room.”

“You don't know how to handle her. She can be unpredictable at times. Her medicine does that to her.” 

“I can manage. I need to learn how anyway.” Junmyeon slowly leaned to his side and laid his head on his shoulder. Sehun let him, resting his head on his. His hair was soft and his skin on his cheek was smooth on his own.

A part of Sehun was worried though, for Junmyeon. His sister was really a good girl. A good person with good morals. She just struggled through her problems and felt like most things were her fault in some way. It all came from their childhood with their parent’s issues and fighting, along with all the neglect they both suffered. She was always more sensitive than any of them, and it made sense that everything around her now would trigger her in one way or another.

“Do you think we’re horrible for doing this to her?” Junmyeon voiced his fear finally. Sehun could tell it had been on his mind the whole time. It had been on his too. 

“This one action doesn’t define who we are as people.” He answered carefully. “We deserve to be together. Just like anyone else.”

Junmyeon looked up to him with his big eyes again. They looked like they were searching for something in his face before turning away from him. He wasn’t sure what that meant.

The next few days were rough. Whenever the couple was together for too long, another argument broke out. It was over some of the simplest stuff, like how to slice the bread to the future choices that his sister wanted Junmyeon to make in his career. Junmyeon would state his side and reasoning back to whatever she said, most of the time it is the opposite and the discussion would end in an awkward silence. Either one of them were mean at first, but when the topic of religion came up, both sides became somewhat aggressive. 

It was the first time that Sehun actually saw Junmyeon more angry than upset. It escalated quickly, over something minor that he didn’t even remember, but he couldn’t forget the image of Junmyeon glaring at the girl across the dinner table with his face red and his voice rooted with annoyance. His sister was no better with her own reenactment of the flashback, and for once, she didn’t seem so sorry afterward. 

Sehun knew it wasn’t because they hated each other. They were just unhappy and they only had each other to slash out at about it all. Sehun did what Junmyeon asked him to and left the room when they started to debate. He felt as if he should stay, but he owed it to him more to do as he asked since no one listened to him when it came to his own wants. 

It was one of the last few days they had there when all hell broke loose. 

Sehun and Junmyeon went down to the beach in the afternoon and spent an hour there before Junmyeon said he was going to head back to the house for a nap. Sehun let him go, winking and telling him to go sleep in his bed and wait for him till he got there. Junmyeon only winked back before turning back and leaving for the cabin.

Sehun didn’t come back till about two and a half hours later. It was midafternoon in the middle of the week. The radio man warned about a storm coming in later on in the night and he was starting to notice the change in the wind when he was laying in the sand. He packed up and left with only that warning.

He came inside the cabin and felt the tension in the room as he turned over to the slumped over figure at the end of the coffee table, holding his hand in a white hand towel with splats of red liquids that match the same ones on the carpet and table.

Sehun drops everything in his arm and bolted over to Junmyeon. He was putting all of his strength into putting pressure on his covered hand that he could barely sit up and look at him. He was sweating and breathing heavily. He looked like he got hit on the side of his head as well. There was a scratch near his ear that caused blood to be smeared across his face. 

“Junmyeon!” Sehun felt the panic rise in his voice instantly. He tried to make the boy look at him but he was going limp in his arms. “Junmyeon! What happens to you? Look at me!”

Sehun continued to shake and yell before he caught the sight of a figure in the kitchen. He turned to find his sister there. She wore her pale blue nightgown with her arms crossed and her blonde hair cloaking her wet eyes slanted into a murderous glare. A large pair of meat cutting scissors stuck out from her scrawny body frame, the handle in her bony hand. She stood there in the shadows contrasting from the harsh kitchen light. She looked like how he imaged his mother looked when she fell ill, with a sunken the face and a tightly closed mouth. 

Sehun pulled Junmyeon into his form and held him close as he looked his sister dead in the eye. He called out her name and asked her what happen. He was doing what he always did when she had an episode, but she never been like this before. This was so much worse. 

She didn’t answer him. Not even after he called out and demanded her to speak. He was starting to get angry, to the point he could feel his blood boil inside his own veins. 

She never answered him. She simply held his stare before traveling slowly upstairs and going back to her room. She kept the scissors in her hand and locked the door behind her.

Sehun waited a solid second before moving again. He went to the kitchen to get the first aid kit and helped Junmyeon up the steps. He carried the boy to his room and locked the door behind them. He put a chair under the knob and put the bat under the bed. He wasn’t going to leave Junmyeon alone out there with that insane woman again. 

He fixed up Junmyeon’s hand the best he could. He sowed in all four stitches into the boy’s palm after disaffecting it heavily. Junmyeon stayed quiet through the whole process, even when he was in pain. Sehun didn’t ask him what the fight was about, but he never answered him. He already knew what happens then. They were out now. 

Later on, that night, when Junmyeon was asleep, Sehun sneak out of the room and tiptoed down to the living room with the bat in his hand. He closed the bedroom door behind him and kept his eyes on the door of his sister’s room as he traveled down. He scattered across the floor to the phone and picked it up to his ear. He didn’t hear the buzzing noise till he tapped halfway through his father’s number. He put the phone down once he saw the slice up the landline. 

The storm came in late that night and went on to the next day. The sound of rain and thunder played as background noise to the loud sound of silence that concave the whole cabin. Sehun mainly stayed in his room with Junmyeon beside him, sleeping. Both of them spoke very little to each other, which made Sehun nervous. There was also no noise from the other side of the wall, that only made him more nervous. 

They stayed in the room for most of the day till the late evening when Sehun adventured out of the room in the order to get food. He carried the bat with him to the kitchen where he got wine and bread for him and Junmyeon to shared. He went back down to prepared dinner for his sister, creating an excuse to attempt to talk to her. He left the bat with Junmyeon in the room and stationed the pistol hidden under the kitchen in the back of his pants, against his back. He pulled his shirt out from the tuck and put on his flannel sweater.

He had her a bowl of soup and a cup of tea on a tray that the carried up to the room carefully. He took his time with each time as he thought over his plan again and again. He breathed the best he could before using his foot to knock on the door. He waited for her to open the door. She never did. 

Sehun readjusted the tray to one arm before taking out his pocket knife and picking the lock. It was a small hack he learned when he was living on the street when he first ran away from his father. He saw so many people do it around him, he caught onto the tactic quickly.

He let the door swing open widely and took a glance inside. He saw nothing but an empty bed at first. He hesitated at first but took a step forward, then another into the room. He looked around him and still saw nothing. He took another step and spotted the pair of scissors on the nearby nightstand by the bed, next to her wedding ring. He turned and saw the open bathroom door with a small form on the floor. That was a sight he normally saw from his sister. 

He placed the tray down and went towards her. She remained motionless when he came to stand in the doorway. The place smelled of heavy bleach like she just cleaned the tub and clean. He looked down at her, who sat with her knees to her chest, letting her head hung low between them. She knew he was there. Her toes curling were enough for him to know.

She finally looked up to him, the crazed look in her eyes still there and blinding him. She was legit insane, and he felt more pity for her than anger. 

She glared at him as he bent down to her. He kept their eye connection, even when she scooted more away from her. Her knees moved down and he saw the glass medicine bottle in her hand then. He slowly put out his hand to take the medicine out of her hand. She kept her grip on it tight, but he could still tell that the bottle was halfway through when they just refilled the bottle before the trip. That was a large bottle of pills.

He pulled against her own force. He needed to take that bottle from her. She started to fight him for it more, letting out angry grunts as she looked at him with a raging glare. They soon began to fight over it and she shoved him to the ground, one hand around his neck as the other stayed on the bottle. She squeezed her hand and Sehun felt lose it.

He pushed her off him and pinned her down with a knee on her chest. He ripped the bottle out of hand and threw it out the door and bathroom. It landed on the carpet and Sehun pushed his sisters down to keep her on the floor. He yelled at her to calm down and listen to him. She fought against and screamed at the top of her lungs before pushing him off her completely, catching him off guard from her strength.

She dashed over to the bottle in the middle of the bedroom. Sehun followed her and got hold of the bottle before her. She screamed at him in protest and tried to fight him for the bottle again. She called him a damn faggot and told him to go to hell. 

“Enough!” Sehun finally snapped. He let go of the bottle and took hold of his sister and slammed her onto the wall, making the picture hanging beside her drop to the floor. 

He pulled out the gun from his backside and placed it underneath her chin. He harshly pushed into her skin and felt her body instantly stop its struggle against his hold on her. She looked at him with wide eyes full of fear and madness. Even with this extreme measure, she wasn’t fully there with him.

A part of himself was telling him to stop. This was too much and that this wasn’t right. It was his sister and she was just sick. She didn’t mean any of her actions. This doesn’t define the good person she actually was, that he knew she actually was. Sehun breathed in the still space between them. The reality was hitting him and he began to question if he was the crazy one here. 

He leaned into her face and looked her in the eye again. “Stop acting like a fucking lunatic. And don’t lay another fucking hand on him again. Understood?” 

She nodded twice. He let her go, letting her drop onto the feet and stand with her back against the wall. He moved away from her to gather the bottle on the floor again and the rest of her medicine. He tucked the gun away and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He hid the medicine in a secret place downstairs and put the gun back under the sink. He went back upstairs and stayed there with the door locked for the rest of the night. 

He woke up the next morning to the smell of smoke. 

He jolted up from this spot in bed to find a cloud of smoke leaking into the room from the cracks in the ceiling and door. He turned to his side to find it empty. Junmyeon was gone. 

Sehun bolted out the door and looked down the main floor where the smell gasoline and smoke filled his nostrils and his eyes quickly began to water. He could hear the distant crackling above him grow louder as pieces of the ceiling began to fall down. He covered his mouth and nose and looked down to find the vague silhouette of a slumped form at the end of the stairs as if it rolled down the steps and landed there. It was Junmyeon, passed out on the carpet. 

“Junmyeon!” Sehun called out in a cough before sprinting down the steps to him. He called out to the boy again and shook him. No response. He was still in his pajamas and the wrapping cloth around his hand was loose and falling off. 

Sehun picked up the smaller boy in his arms and ran out of the house. He ran over to the front of the house, towards the coast and settled him into the sand.

“Junmyeon! Junmyeon!” He slapped his face and shook him harder to make him wake up. Nothing. That scared him shitless.

He turned back to the cabin that was up in flames on the top of the house. Smoke was lifting up into the air and he could see the flames through the windows clearly, burning the roof. Despite being only a few feet away from the cold ocean water, he could feel the heat on his skin as if he was being burnt alive himself. He could smell the burning wood metal, and it all overwhelmed his senses. 

He then remembered again that this wasn’t his honeymoon. 

He ran back inside the burning house, calling out his sister’s name frantically and loudly. He looked around for her, desperately through all the smoke evolving around him. He went into the kitchen and called out for her. He nearly tripped over something under his feet. He looked down to find it to be a piece of glass. There were more scattered around the ground, more broken pieces of glasses then pills. 

He continued on to call out for his sister, coughing viciously as he did so. He even ran up to the steps to her bedroom door, the heat around him tensed by the tenfold. He found the door locked and began to bang on it while calling out for her. The door only locked on the inside, so that meant she was in there, possibly unaware of what was happening.

He tried to break down the door but he was too weak. He was starting to get lightheaded when the ceiling around him and starting to fall. A large piece of it fell down right beside him, causing him to jump back from the flaming wood. He ran down the steps to get away calling out for his sister still subconsciously. He pushed through his blurry vision to the outside air. He made it only a few feet outside the house before his legs went numb underneath him. He collapsed and heaved for air before passing out on the sand. He prayed for his sister’s safety before falling completely into the dark.

He woke up in the hospital. Everything after that became a blur.

The whole cabin burnt down to the ground before the firefighters could get there. They, along with the ambulance, were called by the neighbors around them. Sehun and Junmyeon were found outside of the home, both of them passed out and in need of oxygen. They were the only two to make it out of the fire. 

When Sehun came back into the world, he was in a white covered bed with his family around him, looking worried and depressed. He recalled everything once he saw his sisters with messy blonde hair and dark eyes. He recalled how his youngest sister looked at night and concluded what happen to her before his father sat down and softly told him.

Sehun woke up the day after the fire, about a few hours before Junmyeon who was suffering from a concision and an infection on his hand. They couldn’t give much more details about the boy's condition than that, not until they ran extra tests on him. Sehun asked if he was okay, but the nurses refused to give him an answer. His family reacted the same when Sehun asked them. They just told him he was recovering on his own with his own family there to see him. They also told him that the police where be here tomorrow to question him about what happened. When Sehun asked why the doctor walked in and told him about his state of health and what they found wrong with it. 

The doctors found a high amount of drugs in both his and Junmyeon’s bloodstream. It was at such a high level, it could easily have been lethal. The drug was the reason for them losing consciousness, mixed in with lack of air they had going into their bodies from the smoke in the fire. They said with the amount they have taken, it would be had to be from a liquid state as if someone sprinkled it into their drinks. The drug was commonly used in that state, making it a popular date rape drug. 

Sehun told them that him and Junmyeon and him only drunk wine that night. They said that alcohol was the best drink to use it for. They also said it was one of the ingredients used in some of his sister’s medicine. 

When the police arrived, only two men and Sehun told them everything truthfully in private. He told them about how his sister and Junmyeon were fighting and it how it quickly got ugly. He told them about his fight with her and how he had to hide the medicine from her because he thought she was abusing them again. He told them that he went back to his room after that, at about five in the afternoon and doesn’t remember going to bed after that. He didn’t remember anything after that, not till he woke up to the fire and found Junmyeon on the ground.

The police questioned him for a long time, before letting his family back in and going on their way. He asked if they were off to question Junmyeon. They didn’t answer him. His family asked him what happen and he told them exactly what they told the police. When his father asked him why he didn’t call when things went bad, Sehun told him about how the phone cord was cut off. His family realized what happened from there on before Sehun could even finish the story. 

Sehun didn’t know what happen to his sister. He didn’t know if she really started the fire or how she even could. He didn’t know if she used those drugs or not. All he knew was that she wasn’t herself on the last night of her life, and she really could have done anything in his opinion.

The police soon came back and told them and told them what they found out. 

They went to investigate Junmyeon, who told them about his side of the story. It was similar to Sehun’s, confessing to the fighting and such. He told them that his wife used the scissors to cut up his hand because he confessed he didn’t love her and only married her because her father paid him too. She didn’t take it well and attacked him. She lost it from there on. He didn’t know how he ended up in the hospital and didn’t recall Sehun finding him at the end of the steps and dragging him out of the house. He didn’t even know that the house burnt down. He only recalled going to bed early on that night. 

That’s when they found the note and ring in his pajamas pants pocket. Both were in a small pouch, with the three paged note folded up in a very small square. The note was messily written and acted more as a confession of his sister not wanting to live anymore and wanting his husband to die for manipulating and humiliating her. The ring was a family heirloom that she wanted her brother to have, for being a good man to her. They gave his father the note who read it aloud to all of them. His sister’s handwriting was messy, like she was in a hurry, with tears staining the page. She was short in her reasoning and cold in her sorrow for the aftermath.

The case was declared closed then. The police filed it as a suicide and his family began to make plans for a private funeral. His father promised to take extra measures to make the deal private. They didn’t want to make this well known. Sehun numbly half listen to them talk around him as he laid there in the bed. 

He wondered how the note didn’t state how she knew Sehun and Junmyeon were together behind everyone’s back. 

He wondered how no one questioned how Junmyeon got at the end of the steps, passed out. He wondered how the note and ring got in Junmyeon’s pocket. He wondered how Junmyeon didn’t hear everything that happens in the other room when Sehun took away her medicine away. He wondered why his sister would give him the ring when he hated it and why she states him as a good man when she clearly hated him at the end. He wondered how the wine they share got drugged by his sister’s medicine when he and Sehun were the only ones to touch it. He wondered if the gun he put back under the sink stayed there for the rest of the night…

Sehun never asked Junmyeon these questions in his head, and Junmyeon never volunteered to answered them.

The funeral was held the day after Sehun came home from the hospital. It was short and exclusive to most of the distant family. It was mostly just him and his sisters and father. Junmyeon wasn’t there and when he asked why, his sisters glared at him, their way of saying to shut up. They wanted him to stop asking about the boy, but that was all Sehun could think about. He wanted to see him and to make sure he was okay. He knew how Junmyeon was with these kinds of things. He was going to blame himself and he didn’t want the boy to think like that. 

It was a month later when another one of his sisters were bought off. They webbed quickly and moved away, and the other two followed her example soon afterward. Sehun was left home alone, with his father who locked himself up in his office and dove into his work. It was what he always did when he had grief to deal with. 

Sehun didn’t dance like he normally did. He only sat in his room and thought about everything. He wanted to call Junmyeon and talk to him, but none of the staff would let him near the phone. He tried writing a letter and gave it to them to send but he doubts they ever did. He wasn’t allowed out of the house during the day and eventually at night as well. He felt trapped and suffocated. He only sat in his room and remember everything before the damn engagement that began the downfall. He dreamed of the apartment and the lake and the plays again, wondering how he able to live that all in the same lifespan. He mostly thought about Junmyeon though. He missed him. 

One evening, when his father came down for breakfast in the garden, Sehun tried his best to make conversation with the man who was more remote than normal. Sehun felt brave and asked about Junmyeon. His father only told him that the boy was no longer a concern to the family. He was fired from his company a week after the honeymoon and told to never speak or see any of them again.

Sehun only stared back the man in total disbelief. He didn’t want to get angry or to cause a fit. He was too tired to fight with him. He only sat there and thought of how much worse the past two months must have been for Junmyeon than him. 

It was a week later when one of the servers called Sehun downstairs for a phone call from one of his aunts. He took the call and waited to hear the older woman’s voice. 

“Sehun?” The voice was young and heaven like.

“Junmyeon?” Seen breathed in shock. He felt himself smile for the first time in what felt like forever. He looked around to make sure no one was around him to hear. “Junmyeon, baby. I know you think that… It’s not true. I didn’t know till just now. I…”

“I know. I know.” Junmyeon told him quietly. He was calm and soft sounding. “I know how your father is.”

“I miss you,” Sehun told him. 

“I miss you, too,” Junmyeon told him back. “And I’m ready to never miss you again.” 

Sehun felt the other end of the call grow serious. His body tensed. “What do you mean?”

“I’m ready to get out of here.” Junmyeon sounded so firm. He was almost demanding, which was something completely unlike him. “I don’t care anymore. I just want to leave here with you and never come back.”

“Yes.” Sehun agreed. “When?” 

“Tonight,” Junmyeon answered him. “Get your ticket for the train at midnight tonight. I’ll wait for you to load on there and we can leave together.”

“I’ll be there,” Sehun stated. “I promise you, I’ll be there.”

“I’ll wait for you,” Junmyeon told him.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” 

Junmyeon hung up on him then. Sehun couldn’t shake that even though he did hold emotions in his throat, he seemed off and distant. He hoped for the best as he begins to pack his things. The took everything that he brought with him the first, along with all the money he saved up. He waited until it was dark and after his father went to bed to throw his bag out into the yard from his bedroom window. He snuck out to the garden and ran off the property the best he could. He made it to the end of the driving lane where he called in taxi waited for him. 

He arrived into town in time to get the ticket. He sat and waited for time to come by for loading. He waited a long two hours, worrying about everyone that passed by him and looked out for Junmyeon. 

He felt a cold hand on his shoulder when he stood to go over to the boarding station. He turned to find Junmyeon behind him. The boy’s hair was freshly cut and there were dark bags under his eyes. The air between them was still and neither of them said anything for a moment. It was odd, to know him so well yet have him stand before Sehun like a stranger.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Sehun asked him. He knew Junmyeon was nervous; he could tell it by the hollow look in his eyes. 

“Are you having second thoughts?” Junmyeon asked him. He looked scared now.

“No. I want this.” Sehun dared to reach out to hold the boy’s hand. “I want to do this.”

Junmyeon squeezed his hand. “I needed you so much. I tried to call and everything.”

“I did too. They had me on lockdown though. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”  
“Me too. I really wanted to see you.” 

They stayed like that for a long moment again. Sehun slowly began to feel the same energy between them come back. He just kept telling himself that this was his Junmyeon. They both had been through some major events but they were still the same. They were still in love and still wanted nothing more than each other. He kept putting up the memory of the lake and the view of the audience from the view on the stage in his head. He put Junmyeon in one of the near back seats, like how he was when he first laid eyes on him. He looked at him like he was somewhere else and Sehun wondered where he was and if he could come along with him. That same look was on him now and this time, Sehun knew they were dreaming of the same place. 

He smiled at him and Junmyeon smiled at. He still had his pretty lips and high cheekbones. His eyes were finally bright again and his smile was back in full bloom. It felt good to have something the same out of all the aftermath of the fire. He felt like he lost everyone and everything until now. He still had the most important thing to, which was Junmyeon. That was all he needed in his life now.

They board the train together and took their seats in a private compartment. Neither of them asked about what happened two months prior, they only talked about how lovely it was to be together now, to start their life together. Sehun asked for the reasoning of why he wanted to take their plan in action now and Junmyeon simply explained that he was done waiting. He agreed to the statement but knew more laid underneath that explanation. 

Sehun held onto Junmyeon’s hand and settled his head down onto his shoulder. He felt the train move underneath them as it begins the travel into their new life together.


End file.
